


We're Gonna Sing It Again

by enjolraspermittedit



Category: Hadestown - Mitchell
Genre: Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Angst, Autistic Orpheus, F/M, Orpheus goes to Hadestown instead
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2020-06-24 05:03:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19716760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enjolraspermittedit/pseuds/enjolraspermittedit
Summary: A retelling of Hadestown, if Orpheus had taken the train to hell instead of Eurydice. The beginning starts off very similar to the actual musical, then of course becomes very canon-divergent.





	We're Gonna Sing It Again

Once upon a time there was a railroad line. It don’t matter where, it don’t matter when. All that matters is the fact that this railroad line existed up top, and that an underground factory existed down below. The only thing connecting the two worlds was the train, and the goddess Persephone. She was supposed to spend her time equally between two places; six months up on top with her mama Demeter so she could gift the mortals with sunshine, six months below with her husband Hades so she could rule the Underworld with him. Recently though, said husband had been keeping her for longer and longer, causing harm and chaos up top - and down below too, for that matter.

Hermes was a god who preferred to stay out of that. He’d take the mortals down below when their time had come (and, more frequently now _before_ their time, but that wasn’t his decision). He delivered souls, delivered messages, delivered stories. And this story is a sad one, but it’s one that’s gonna - gotta - be told anyway.

There were two mortals by the names of Orpheus and Eurydice. Orpheus was a poor young man with a lyre and Eurydice was a poor young woman with a hungry spirit. Hermes was quite protective of Orpheus - he was a friend of the boy’s mama. And as good as it was to have a god on your side, it wasn’t always gonna be enough. The gods had a lot of control over the world, yes, but it was ultimately The Fates who had the most influence over everything. The Fates, who were always singing in the back of your mind. The Fates, the winds who had caused Eurydice to move from town to town, who had caused even the joyful and optimistic Orpheus to get scared sometimes.

But still, Orpheus always tried to remain positive. He had a great job, a great mentor, and great songs. And as he walked into work that day, he had his notebook tucked tight under his arm and his lyre strapped to his back. Whenever he got a brief break from customers, he’d focus on his song, his song that would bring back spring.

Hermes smiled when he saw Orpheus walking in. Hermes enjoyed spending time with the mortals, so much that he opened his own little restaurant up in the mortal world. Orpheus had been the first person that Hermes had hired, and he’d worked there for years now.

“How’s your song comin’ along?” Hermes asked.

“Well, I still haven’t finished it,” Orpheus said. “But I will! I know that I will! And I’ll save the world!”

“I’m sure that you will,” Hermes said, smiling a bit to himself. Then he handed Orpheus a rag. “Now get to work, will ya?”  
Orpheus nodded, humming his song to himself as he started to wipe down the tables. “La la la la la…” He was a good and determined worker, even though he got distracted more often than not and he would frequently lose track of his current task. Hermes understood all of that of course, so he let Orpheus be as he sang; didn’t say a word when the boy would occasionally neglect work to jot down some lyrics in his notebook.

Overall, it was a pretty normal start to the day, and then someone new walked in. Orpheus didn’t notice at first, for he was too busy singing and cleaning up the tables. He didn’t even register that there was a girl behind him, until she sat down.

She was beautiful. She was underfed and her hair was a mess and she was attempting to warm up with nothing but a candle, yet she was beautiful. Definitely the most attractive person that Orpheus had ever seen. She didn’t notice him staring at her, she was too wrapped up in her own world. Hermes, however, did notice. He gave Orpheus a small nod of encouragement, and Orpheus swore that he saw the god wink.

_Be cool,_ Orpheus thought to himself.

And then…

“Would you like to get married?” he asked. “Come home with me!”

**Author's Note:**

> Yes indeed, I have started another project! And there are still more coming, and of course I need to work on the other ones I've already published too...  
> Anyways, sorry that this first chapter was so short. The first two are basically introductory chapters, and then they'll hopefully get longer :D I actually already have most of chapter 2 written as well, so you can expect that one coming up soon too (if this is a thing that people are interested in reading, that is)  
> Twitter - @ButchHades  
> Instagram - @ThisBrightStar  
> Youtube - Lumina Pontmercy/Sky T.  
> Tumblr - rated-r-for-grantaire/hadsephone (and way more, but those are the only ones that contain a lot of Hadestown)


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